Numb
by Hope-Like-Fyre
Summary: Roxas wakes up in a strange place, filled with beings called Nobodies. New problem arise with the new friendships he makes and when he tries to leave, his best friend has to stop him before he's gone forever. Told in Roxas's P.O.V. R&R is welcomed and appreciated! Currently on Hiatus.
1. Prologue

_Numb._

_That's all I felt after I was tackled by my friend, Axel. I could barely see, let alone hear his cries. I couldn't feel a thing in my body. Xemnas had once said that if I ever felt numb it meant the end of my existence, which was never supposed to happen in the first place. Knowing that I never should have been, that I never should have existed, was a hard fact that I had to face, but luckily, I had my friends: Axel, Demyx, and Xion. This whole situation began a few months back, when Xemnas sent me and Xion on a special mission. "I want you both to do a little recon in Agrabah." He had said. So we went, not knowing about anything that would happen..._

_Let me put things in perspective for you. Axel and I had been fast friends, best friends, in fact, since I joined Organization XIII. Axel tells me that I totally changed his boring existence into an adventure, back when he met me, on a day like any other day. _


	2. A Day Like Any Other Day

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN KINGDOM HEARTS (sadly)**

**Happy reading!**

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Axel was rounding the corner to the Skyscraper. That one building was his favorite part of this world, where he could be alone with his thoughts. It was very lonely at times and Axel wished another member of the Organization would understand his feelings and just listen to him vent his frustrations. He wished for a friend that wouldn't leave his side, someone could help him understand why he was here, someone who would talk and laugh with him. However, there was nobody, many Nobodies in fact, but none of them were what Axel had wanted. He closed his eyes and transported himself to the top of the Skyscraper. Before he could take in the scenery, there was a brilliant flash behind him. Axel knew exactly what this meant and instantly began running towards the room known as the Proof of Existence. This bright flash only meant one thing.

A new Nobody was born.

ROXAS'S POV

I awoke in a strange place, different to what I was used to, resting against a tombstone of sorts. The symbol on the tombstone looked like...swords, maybe? I couldn't tell, my eyes hadn't adjusted to the lighting yet. I tried to remember what I was doing before I ended up here. I remember talking to a brown haired boy, with ocean blue eyes. I remember him asking if I could give him his body back. I remember shrugging, telling him I didn't know what had happened or what I was doing there, I just...well, was. There wasn't an explanation that I could find. He asked my name. I didn't know that one, either. He just smiled and sort of disappeared, dissipating into the darkness.

_So, now I'm here, but where exactly is here?_ I wondered. I couldn't answer myself, I didn't know. I looked behind me at the tombstone, but it had changed. It was a bright blue color now and the swords had disappeared. A name was being carved out onto the blue light one letter at a time as I watched in awe.

_Roxas Number XIII._

Roxas? Was that my name? What was with the "XIII" on the end? Was that a way to distinguish that I was the thirteenth person to enter this world? I didn't understand. I heard the sounds of feet slamming against metal and turned to see a redhead with piercing green eyes running towards me, with no signs of slowing down. As if time itself stopped, the redhead jumped, spun in air, and landed right in front of me.

"So you're the new guy?" His voice seemed anxious, despite being out of breath.

"I guess." I said, uneasy at the redhead's presence.

The redhead moved me to the side to inspect the tombstone I had been laying on.

He stood up with a satisfied smirk. "So your name is Roxas."

"I think so." I replied, still uneasy.

He grabbed my hand. "Then Xemnas will want to see you. Let's go."

He concentrated hard and a black portal appeared in front of us. He led me through the portal into a large white room with chairs on the walls. The chairs were very high and it seemed as if the room never ended. The redhead let go of my hand and bowed.

"Xemnas." He said.

"Rise, Axel." A voice commanded. "And who is this you have brought before us?"

"The newest Nobody to join the Organization. His name is Roxas." Axel grabbed me and pulled me in front of him.

Xemnas said nothing, I couldn't even see him. I wondered if Xemnas was someone who lived in the light above us. A hooded figure came through the light, falling slowly, like a leaf. He touched down in front of us, removing his hood to reveal his silver hair and red eyes. His grin sent shivers up my spine.

"So," Xemnas said. "_You_ are number thirteen."

I nodded, too frightened to say anything.

"Good." He replied. "Axel, fit him into a coat and then come and see me."

Xemnas returned to where he came from.

"You heard him." Axel grabbed my hand again and transported us to a grey room.

"Where are we?" I asked.

"Your room, you're gonna live here." Axel explained.

"I don't understand." I shook myself awake.

"Don't worry. We'll explain everything. I've gotta go to see Xemnas. Anyway, just get some rest. I'll come see you tomorrow." Axel waved and disappeared.

I looked up through the window I had at the black sky.

_When is tomorrow?_ I still had so many questions, but I decided to sleep like I had been told to. If anything, sleeping would give me energy to get through tomorrow, whenever that was, and I'd have my questions answered.

THE NEXT MORNING

I felt someone's hand on my side, trying to wake me up. I opened my eyes and looked up into Axel's face.

He smiled. "Good morning, Roxas."

"Morning." I replied, groggily.

"Here are your clothes." He said happily, presenting me with a black long-sleeved shirt, black gloves, and black pants.

"Thanks." I said. I wasn't too excited about wearing all black, but Axel and Xemnas were, so I guess everyone here did, right?

"And most importantly, this is your coat. Make sure to wear it all the time, especially in front of Xemnas." Axel pulled out a long black robe, with an odd symbol on it.

"What is that?" I pointed to the silver symbol on the zipper.

"Oh, that's the symbol of us Nobodies." Axel replied.

"What exactly _are_ Nobodies?" My mouth was still full of questions.

Axel shrugged. "Dunno. Xemnas will, though, and we'll talk to him after breakfast."

I just sighed. I didn't know who I was or what I was doing here. I only knew that I was here, without any sort of reason or explanation. I was just here.

I just was.

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**Pretty corny way to end? Yeah I know. Not to worry though, the chapters will get longer. I just didn't want to ruin the story (as if the prologue didn't do that already) Anyway, thanks for reading! FYI updates should be every two to three days.  
**


	3. Finding My Place

**I DO NOT OWN KINGDOM HEARTS**_  
_

**Happy reading and thanks for your reviews thus far!**

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_We met with Xemnas again, fortunately we didn't stay too long, but he gives me the creeps. He said I needed to hone my skills and learn what powers I have. Axel took it upon himself to teach me. Is that why we were in this new place? I guess so. Axel said there are many worlds connected to one another and it is our job to collect hearts from the monsters, called Heartless, to make ourselves whole again. I didn't know what most of the meant, but Axel taught me well. I can now conjure up a portal. He said tomorrow we will continue your training and now, he jokingly refers to me as "Grasshopper". I wonder what kind of powers I have, I guess I'll have to wait and see._

_XIII out._

I looked over my journal entry and sighed. I hated journal entries. Why did Xemnas want us to make these stupid things? They were a waste of time, but Xemnas said he needed them for research. He also says Nobodies can't truly feel any emotion and what we think we feel is actually a shred of the true emotion. I think he's wrong. I believe I _can_ feel true emotions. Like hate, for instance. I've met others here though, ones that seem to care for me. One is named Demyx. He's able to manipulate the water around him using an oversized sitar. The other is Xion. She came here like I did a few days ago. It wasn't pretty, because Xemnas said he didn't need another over tempered woman like Larxene. She got really mad and threw one of her lightning kunai at him. Soon, mostly due to Axel and I, Xemnas accepted her as number fourteen. Xion doesn't know her true powers either, so we basically go on missions to watch Axel. While Xion and I cheer from the sidelines, we both thought the same thing.

This is boring.

I don't know what it is about Axel or Xion, but I feel like we were meant to be. I looked over my journal entry, my arms still crossed. I was trying to think of a good enough excuse to not write one for today, but I couldn't find any. Just then, someone knocked on my door, bringing me out of my thoughts and back into my grey room.

"Roxas, are in here?" Xion called.

"Yeah, door's open." I called back.

I heard the door open and expected some sort of greeting, but instead I got a very unexpected hug.

"Xion, what's wrong?" I asked. She would always come to me and vent, just like Axel would.

"Xemnas decided if I can't find my true powers, he will dispose of me." Xion threw her head into her hands. "I'm not useless!"

I didn't know what to say or what to feel. I knew that when she threw her head in her hands it was a symbol of sadness. What was sadness again? I knew I could feel the emotions, but I hadn't sorted them out yet. I valued myself. I felt sort of heavy. Was that sadness? I'd ask Axel.

I sat on the bed beside her. "It's alright Xion. Xemnas is just oblivious to your true talents. Plus, you have Axel and I to help you!"

"Will you do that? Will you help me find my powers?" She asked.

"Of course I will!" I smiled at her. "Axel will too! Not to mention, I haven't found my powers yet, either. We can learn together!"

LATER THAT NIGHT

"Roxas."

I could hear someone calling me.

"Roxas!"

They were getting closer.

"ROXAS!"

I jolted up in bed, covered in cold sweat. I tried to blink the darkness away. I heard the voice again.

"Roxas!"

It was startling, but I saw a small figure coming towards me. It was a redheaded girl that I didn't know. I tried to speak, but all that came out was:

"Kairi?"

It wasn't my voice saying either. It was someone else's voice. I tried to ask a question again, but Kairi interrupted.

"Come on, Sora. Riku's building a raft."

Sora? I wasn't Sora! My name was Roxas. Why she was calling me that, I didn't know.

Suddenly, my vision returned and I was back in my room. I laid back down, relieved and puzzled. _What just happened?_ I asked.

I'd have to talk to Xemnas in the morning.

THE NEXT DAY

I walked into the Round Room and transported myself to my chair on the wall. I hated meetings almost as much as I hated journal entries.

"Hey there, Grasshopper!" Axel waved.

"Hi Axel." I tried my best to look happy.

"You wanna meet me and Xion at the station tower later?" He asked.

"Sure!" I said.

I saw Axel take his place and Demyx too. Xion wasn't there, probably because Xemnas didn't recognize her as a true member. She didn't even have a seat. The meeting was long and boring just as usual. Even though I had mostly everything explained to me, I stopped to talk to Xemnas.

"Hey Xemnas, what exactly _are_ Nobodies?" I asked.

"A fine question indeed. Nobodies are beings that are created when people lose their hearts to darkness. We are all that's left of them." Xemnas explained.

"Is it possible to see into their memories?"

Xemnas stroked his chin. "It may be possible, if they have broken out of the darkness. Why do you ask?"

"Well, I've been having odd dreams lately." I lowered my head.

Xemnas took out a notepad. "What kind of odd dreams?"

"It's like I can see Sora's memories." I replied.

"Wait, Sora?" Xemnas asked.

I nodded. "Yes. I think he is my Somebody."

I told Xemnas the dream about Kairi and how she called me Sora.

"Very interesting," Xemnas scribbled some things down. "If Sora is truly your Somebody, then you must be able to wield his weapon."

"Sora had a weapon? What did he use?" I questioned.

Xemnas didn't reply, he just left, without a word.

I sighed and went to meet Axel, maybe he would know. Part of me wanted answers, but the other part didn't. Maybe I didn't want to find my powers until Xion found hers. There were too many things on my mind at the moment. I needed to breathe and forget everything. Luckily, I have the best friends in the world.

I met Axel and Xion in Twilight Town, just as he asked me to. We headed for the ice cream shop. The woman there was always kind enough to accept the winner sticks that Axel and I collected for such an occasion, when none of us had any work to do and we could just sit and talk.

We sat atop the massive station tower, eating our ice cream and looking over the beautiful Twilight Town.

I decided to ask my question. "Hey Axel, have you ever met Sora?"

"Sora?" Axel looked at me. "No, I haven't ever met him. Why?"

"I believe he's my Somebody and Xemnas thinks I can wield Sora's weapon. Do you know what that is?" I braced myself for the answer.

"Yeah, he has a strange weapon called a... Keyblade, I think." Axel put his hand on my shoulder. "There's only one way to find out, but it won't be easy."

I sighed. "How will I be able to wield something I've never even heard of?"

Axel smirked. "Well, like this."

Then he did the stupidest thing he could've.

He jumped off the station tower.

"Axel!" I cried and dove after him.

He lay there falling to his death smiling. Then, he snapped his fingers and created a pool of Heartless underneath us. I could faintly hear Xion's voice crying out our names as she jumped down after us. I needed to save Axel!

He smiled up at me. "Come on Roxas! Can't you save your best friend? What's wrong with you?"

I gritted my teeth, trying to do everything to make my body fall faster, then, I was going to pound Axel's face in.

We were nearing the bottom of the tower. I reached my hand as far as it would go, trying to reach Axel, but he kept falling, grinning like an idiot. I felt a surge of something within me and all of a sudden, I was rocketing towards Axel. His grin had disappeared into awe and I fell right past him at a great speed. I felt my legs touch ground and starting swinging my arms wildly at the Heartless. I finished and opened my eyes, the Heartless had turned into hearts. I felt something heavy in my hands and looked down. Some sort of oversized key was in them. Axel began applauding.

"It doesn't matter what you're feeling, just as long as it strong, you will be able to wield the Keyblade!" He cheered for me.

I couldn't believe it. I had done it. Not only had I found my powers. Not only was I no longer useless.

I had felt something.


	4. A Dream All Too Real

**A special thanks/shoutout to AngelamongtheStars for the reviews! **

**I don't own Kingdom Hearts, but I'm trying like hell to contact Tetsuya Nomura.**

**Happy reading! Don't forget to leave a review!**

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"Axel is this really a good idea?" I kept a lookout for anyone that was coming down the hall.

"Sure! Demyx and I have a prank record. Score is twenty-nine to thirty and I'm about to get thirty-one." Axel said proudly.

"Then why am I here? It's your record. Isn't that cheating?" I asked.

Axel shook his head. "No! Besides Demyx had Zexion prank me last week!"

"What did Zexion do?"

"Nothing." Axel grinned. "Here goes."

He burst into Demyx's room and went up to Demyx's sitar. He attached some strings to the headstock and some to the ceiling.

"All done!" Axel sang, wiping his forehead.

I face palmed. "Axel, how is that a prank?"

"You'll see." He admired his job.

We heard footsteps coming down the hall and some whistling. It was Demyx!

"Under the bed! Hurry!" Axel ordered.

We dove under Demyx's bed. Hopefully, he wouldn't catch us.

Demyx toweled off and got dressed. He combed his hair and went over to his sitar.

"Here it comes." Axel whispered. I still didn't know what was so funny about-

*TWANG!* *WHAM!*

Demyx stared at his beloved sitar, which was now facing down on the floor. The sitar's strings were broken and flailing in different directions. When Axel had tied the strings, he had done so with the utmost care, as not to break the sitar, but Demyx still couldn't play it.

"AXEL!" Demyx roared and raced down the hall.

Axel snickered. "Don't worry. He'll be over it by breakfast."

"You and Demyx are impossible." I shook my head.

Axel shrugged. "We're friends. Just like you and I are."

"Don't forget Xion!" I added.

Axel laughed. "C'mon. I'll race you to the dining hall."

**LATER THAT DAY**

Xion and I sat in my room, playing cards. Apart from eating ice cream, this was our favorite thing to do.

"So, you found your powers." Xion said. "I still wonder what mine will be."

"Don't worry about it. We'll find them!" I assured her.

She smiled. "We have to. Otherwise..."

I hung my head. "Yeah, Xemnas. How many days are left?"

"Seven." She replied. It was a pretty sore subject, but there were seven. Seven days to find Xion's abilities. Seven days to prove her worth. Seven days before she was gone.

I stood up. "C'mon, we're going to Twilight Town."

"How come?" Xion looked up at me.

I reached my hand out. "We're going to find your powers. Trust me."

"Okay." She murmured and took my hand.

**TWILIGHT TOWN**

"Okay, you have to focus. I know Xemnas says Nobodies can't feel anything, but we can! That emotion we feel drives our abilities and fuels our fighting spirit!" I watched Xion fend off a few more Shadows. Axel had taught me a few days ago how to conjure up Heartless at will. It was a pretty easy tactic, but, once again, emotions played a huge part. Too much hate and the Heartless would overwhelm everything, including the conjuror. I had to keep my focus, all while coaching Xion.

_I need to tap into her emotions and make them stronger._ I thought. Then, it hit me. I'd do just what Axel did.

"Xion!" I snapped my fingers, dismissing the remaining Heartless.

"Yeah?" She panted.

"Rest for a bit. When you're ready, we'll go up there." I pointed to the top of the station tower.

"O-okay Roxas." Xion sat down, trying to catch her breath.

When she was ready, we bought some ice cream and went up on top of the station tower.

"I don't know why you bought me ice cream." Xion said. "I didn't accomplish anything."

I shrugged. "Of course you did! We still have six days to find your purpose and we'll keep trying until we do!"

We finished our ice cream and talked for a while. When the time came to leave, I got up.

"Come on. Xemnas will have our heads if we don't report back." I reached for her hand.

"Right. Let's go!" She smiled.

_Time to put my plan into action._

I stretched out my arms and yawned. I could feel myself starting to fall.

I cried out. "Xion!"

She looked at me, horrified.

"Roxas!" She came after me.

_Come on Xion. Let your emotions shine through!_

"Help me, Xion!" I knew the ground was getting closer and closer.

"No! Roxas!" I could see tears streaming down her face.

The ground was too close. In a panic, I transported myself and Xion back to the castle.

"What just happened?" Xion looked around.

I shrugged, trying to play off my mistake. "I don't know. Maybe it was Xemnas."

So we tried and we tried and we tried again. When she least expected it, I did something to put myself in danger so she would strengthen her emotions and discover her purpose. On the last day, we sat together eating ice cream again.

"So this is how it ends." Xion sighed. "Tomorrow is the end."

"No, there's still time!" I jumped to my feet.

"Give it up Roxas. Xemnas was right, I'm useless. Besides Organization XIV sounds kind of stupid, doesn't it?" Xion stared sadly at the setting sun.

_There was one more chance._

I looked at the ground, plotting once more. In a flash, I summoned a large Heartless called The Pit. It was just a large mouth, with beady eyes and some tentacles to root it into the ground. I also summoned a Heartless to come grab me and throw me to The Pit.

I counted down in my head.

_3...2...1...GO!_

I snapped my fingers. The Heartless came and threw me down. Xion attacked the one that threw me down and jumped after me. I summoned more Heartless to beat up on me while I fell. I have to admit, I would be covered in bruises afterward, but I needed to do this, for Xion's sake.

We kept falling until Xion shouted.

"Roxas! Your Keyblade!"

Dammit. I forgot all about how I had discovered that I had a Keyblade. I summoned it to try and make it look like I was fighting back, but I allowed one of the Heartless to steal it and fly away from my reach.

"No!" I cried, hoping this would trigger something with Xion.

It must have, because she kicked the Heartless, grabbed my Keyblade and threw it to me. Then, a second one formed in her other hand and she launched it towards The Pit. It tore through my creatures and Xion grabbed me before I hit the ground. She had a very prideful look in her eyes.

"You are just all sorts of bad luck, you know that?" She asked.

I pointed to her hand, not bothering to answer her question. "Xion, look!"

She looked at her hand and dropped me to the ground. I was only a few inches from it, but the fall still hurt.

"I did it! I did it! I did it! I'm not useless!" Xion screamed in delight and began dancing.

I grinned. My plan had worked and my friend got to stay in the Organization. It was a good day.

She grabbed me. "Let's go show Xemnas!"

And off we went.

**IN THE ROUND ROOM**

I looked around. Sure enough, everyone in the castle had come to see Xion's newfound power, even Xemnas.

"Come on. Show us what that hopeless Nobody can do." Xemnas said coldly.

"Okay everyone," I announced, ignoring Xemnas's request. "Watch this!"

Xion stood in the middle of the room. She looked up at Xemnas and summoned her Keyblade, swinging around to prove her skills. When her performance was over, I could hear Demyx and Axel wildly clapping and praising Xion. The rest of the Organization joined in clapping, all except Xemnas. She only smiled and gave a half wave before approaching Xemnas's chair.

"You said I had seven days to prove my worth. Now, I have." Xion motioned to her Keyblade.

"We have no use for _two_ Keyblade wielders." Xemnas said.

Xion stared up at Xemnas horrified. I was scared too, the way Xemnas was talking we was still going to get rid of Xion.

"Come on Xemnas." I spoke up. "With two Keyblade wielders, we can collect hearts twice as fast. Isn't that what our goal is?"

Xemnas shrugged. "I suppose I did give you seven days. You have proved yourself, Xion, you can stay."

Xion smirked. "Thank you, Xemnas."

"Meeting adjourned. Everyone is dismissed." Xemnas left the room.

The rest of the Organization left too, most of them congratulating Xion on their way out and others just flashing thumbs up.

I grinned like I had never grinned before, looking at Xion. I was proud of her. Soon, my vision became blurred, I felt myself falling into darkness. Xion stared at me and tried to catch me, but I had fallen too far. She began screaming for help. I landed on something soft and fluffy. I shook my head and found myself back in my room, and a realization came.

I had just woken up. Xion was still powerless and Xemnas was going to get rid of her. I hurried to the dining hall. Axel and Xion were there, chatting. Axel glanced over at me.

"We were beginning to think you'd never get up! We have some news for you." Axel called.

"Xemnas isn't going to get rid of me after all!" Xion cried happily. "He decided to let me stay!"

I was shocked. "What? How?"

"Well, I kinda told him that if he let Xion stay, I'd stop pulling pranks." Axel rubbed the back of his neck. "But we all know I can't keep that promise."

We all laughed together, I felt like a weight had been lifted.

"Come on," I said. "I'll treat you all to ice cream."

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So my one question is this: Did you all like the bold text or regular text for the change of place? Let me know, please, I'm trying to make this as clear to read as possible. Thanks!


	5. Demyx Finds Out

**I DON'T HAVE TIME TO BE DEAD! **

**Anyways, I'm sorry I'm late; college has been kicking my tail. That being said, let's get right down to business!**

**I do not own Kingdom Hearts.**

**Happy reading!**

* * *

_ Two months._

_It had been two months since I joined Organization XIII. I don't remember the exact date of my birth, but Axel wished me a happy birthday, so it must have been today. I'm still not up to par with everything about the Organization and my dreams have been invaded by strange memories I don't know anything about. I talked to Vexen and he believes he can create a potion that releases the soul of a Nobody that completely cuts off any interaction between the Nobody and the Somebody. I can only hope he's right._

_XIII out._

I looked over my journal entry. Had it really been two months since I joined Organization XIII? It sure didn't feel like it. I decided to head down to the dining hall for breakfast. Today was Saix's day to cook and while he and I never really got to know each other, he always cooked the best food out of all of us. Every time Saix's day to cook came up everyone got up extra early so they wouldn't miss it.

As I stepped into the dining hall, I was greeted by an awkward silence. No one was seated, no one was chatting. The room was empty! I quickly checked the kitchen for the time, only to bump into Saix.

"You're up early, Roxas. Can't wait to eat my pancakes huh?" Saix chuckled.

"Of course! I wouldn't miss your food for anything. Not even a heart." I grinned at him.

"Not even to be whole? Wow, thanks Roxas. That means a lot." Saix returned to cooking.

I sat on a stool and watched in awe as he poured, stirred, baked, and glazed the pancakes he was making. My stomach grumbled just from the sight of the food. I looked around the kitchen expecting someone else to aid him cook.

As if he read my thoughts, Saix said. "Roxas, do you mind helping me? My lazy sous chef didn't wake up on time."

I pretended to think. "Let me guess, was it Axel?"

"Nope, today was Xigbar's day to help." Saix replied. Under his breath he added "Lazy bastard."

I got off the stool. "What can I do?"

"Well, you could get out the dishes, but not the fine china ones. Those are mine." Marluxia came in through the kitchen door.

"Hello Marluxia." Saix glanced at him. "Did you get up earlier to get some food this time?"

"No, no. I just had to make sure no one was using my fine china." Marluxia smiled.

"I doubt anyone would use it." Saix said, not looking up. "It has roses on it."

Marluxia's expression changed. "Roses can be manly too. Women love a man who has a feminine side!"

"Only the masculine ones." Saix chimed in.

Marluxia glared at Saix. "Well, what do you know? I haven't ever seen you with a woman."

Saix shrugged. "Not a lot, but I do know that women are more adept to dating masculine men."

"It doesn't matter anyway, it's not like _we _can love, right?" Marluxia sighed.

"Right." Saix agreed.

"Well, I suppose now I will bid you adieu my lovelies." Marluxia waved.

I waited until Marluxia left before I said "His _lovelies_?"

Saix shook his head. "It's a long story Roxas. Maybe Axel can tell you during your mission today."

I sighed. I'd forgotten today I had to work today.

"Sorry, didn't mean to ruin your mood." Saix said.

"It's okay. I would've found out sooner or later." I replied.

"Well, anyways, cheer up! You get to have some awesome pancakes created by yours truly, moi." Saix did his best to copy Marluxia's accent.

He and I burst out laughing. I had never really gotten to know Saix before. I'd always thought he was one of the strong, silent types, Like Lexaeus. However, now I knew that he was a great person to be around and an even better cook.

I walked back into the dining hall. Everyone had taken their seats, apart from Saix and I, and were ready to eat.

Saix came out with a plate in both hands and one on his head.

"Someone order breakfast?" He grinned as fourteen hands shot up in the air, even Xemnas's.

He and I began passing out plates stacked a mile high with pancakes. When we reached Xigbar, Saix took half his pancakes away.

"That is for not being here to help me." Saix turned to me. "Here you are, Mr. Sous Chef."

I accepted the extra pancakes, but gave them back to Xigbar when Saix wasn't looking. I loved Saix's cooking, but there was no way I could eat all the ones I had.

When breakfast was over, Axel moved next to me.

"Ready to go?" He asked.

I scraped my plate, trying to get every last morsel of my pancakes into my stomach. "Yup! Let's go!"

"Boy," Axel scratched the back of his head. "You seem excited for work today."

"It's because of Saix's cooking. Wait till we actually get wherever we're going." I laughed.

I sneered. The Gummi Ship ride to Wonderland was long, considering it was one of the farther places from The Castle That Never Was. Axel knew how much I hated Gummi ships, they freaked me out. He had told Xemnas once, but Xemnas just brushed it off as nothing. If it didn't affect him, it didn't matter.

Axel placed a hand on my shoulder. "It's okay Roxas, we're almost there."

I grunted in reply. I didn't care how close we were, I just wanted out of the cramped shuttle.

We finally touched down and I couldn't get out of the ship fast enough. I basically hit the ground running, determined to put as much distance between me and the damned shuttle we were forced to use. I didn't care about where Axel was at the moment, I just knew I needed to run.

"ROXAS!" Axel yelled.

I turned my head and instead of hitting air, I ran into solid person.

"It's okay buddy. We're here, you're safe." Axel said calmingly.

I took a few deep breaths at Axel's request. We began looking for the person that Xemnas assigned us to find, Xion.

"She's gotta be around here somewhere." Axel commented as he looked into an empty bush.

"Why would Xemnas send Xion here of all places and without a partner?" I asked.

"He's doing it to test her. She still isn't recognized, despite what you and I know." Axel shook his head. "I wish we could tell them."

"If we do we run into another problem." I pointed out. "Xemnas may not want us to have _two_ Keyblade wielders."

"It's too complicated." Axel replied.

We heard a rustle from a bush behind us. I looked at Axel, his head perked up like he was listening for any type of sound. In an instant, he shoved me down behind a bush.

"Get down." He hissed at me.

He peeked over the bush and cursed silently.

"Card guards." Axel said.

I tried my best to whisper. "What are they?"

"Those are the guards of this place. If they're out on the move..." His eyes went wide. "We have to find Xion as quickly as we can!"

He peeked over the bush again. "Get your Keyblade ready."

He grabbed one of his Chakrams and threw it at one of the guards. Then he grabbed me and threw me past them. My body felt like a feather.

"You better find Xion!" Axel shouted at me, revealing his location.

"You'd better come back alive!" I shouted back.

He smirked. "You better count on it, now run!"

So I did. I jumped over roots, slid under branches, tore through bushes. I could faintly hear Axel fighting the guards. I had one mission now and that was to find Xion. Axel could take care of himself.

I stopped after running through a bush of red roses. I felt something wet seep into my jacket, it was paint. I stopped and examined of one the roses.

_Wait a second. Freshly painted? Who paints their roses?_

I heard the small melody of a song being sung in the garden in front of me. I peeked around the corner, expecting guards, but instead I found Xion and a small blonde girl painting roses with some black cards.

"Xion!" I said, running up to her.

"Oh, hi Roxas!" She smiled. "What are you doing here?"

"Well Xemnas told Axel and I to come find you." I replied.

"Is it that time already? Sorry Alice, I have to go." Xion hung her head.

"It's quite alright Xion!" Alice replied happily. "Do be careful returning home! Goodbye!"

"Bye!" Xion called.

Alice and the cards returned to singing as Xion and I walked out of the garden.

"Roxas, I'm sorry. I meant to come back earlier." Xion sighed. "But then Alice asked for my help."

"It's okay. You just didn't come back and it worried me is all." I shrugged.

"Didn't you say Axel was with you?" Xion asked.

I stopped cold. "Axel!"

I tore through the forest like a winged beast, dodging everything to get back to best friend as quickly as possible. I saw a black coat lying on the ground, next to it was a long, slender body with fiery red hair.

"Axel!" I ran to his side. I shook him, trying to wake him up.

Xion came up behind me. "Axel?"

Axel's eyes opened a bit. He looked at me and smiled.

"You're both late." His eyes shut again and we heard the smashing of trees.

An enormous Heartless came thundering through the trees. It roared at me and Xion. We readied our Keyblades. It was time to fight!

The Heartless attacked with his tail, sending Xion into a nearby bristle bush. I tried fighting it head on only to end up in a tree. Xion and I attacked again, this time together, but try as we might we couldn't break through the Heartless's defensive magic. The beast began roaring in short snorts, like it was laughing.

"You know, I think it's time we used some powers of our own." Xion huffed, completely out of breath.

"I think you're absolutely right." I smirked.

We calmed our nerves, summoning all of our powers to take on the Heartless. We locked arms. With our strength combined, we launched a full-on attack. The Heartless whipped his tail again and flung me to the ground. I looked at my empty hands and then up at Xion, my fallen Keyblade was now in her left. She gathered her strength and mine together and threw both Keyblades at the beast, instantly destroying it.

She came back down and threw my Keyblade back to me.

"How was that?" She asked.

I was stunned, I couldn't even reply.

She beamed. "I'll take your silence as an 'Awesome work, Xion!'"

We heard slow clapping in the forest. We looked over at Axel. He was still lying on the ground, grunting in pain as he tried to move. A hooded figure appeared from the trees and began clapping again.

Xion and I got into our battle positions.

"Who are you?" I dared to ask.

"Oh you know, Nobody." The figure spoke. That voice sounded a lot like...

"Demyx?" I dropped my stance.

Demyx pulled his hood back. "The one and only! At least something good came out of being forced to come here. I got to see that our little mistress isn't as useless as she says." He motioned to Xion.

I gasped. He had seen Xion in action. He was gonna tell Xemnas!

Axel limped by me and up to Demyx.

"Ouch Axel. What happened to you?" Demyx asked.

Axel pulled Demyx up by his collar and shoved him into the trunk of a tree.

"You breathe a word of this to anyone," Axel said in a pained tone. "And I'll kill you. Got it memorized?"

"Yeah, sure. Whatever you say Axel!" Demyx held his hands up to protect his face.

Axel dropped him. "Come on, we all have report to Xemnas."

I sighed. I didn't want to get back in the stupid ship.

* * *

**So yes, I know it's probably poorly written. Sorry about that. :/**


	6. Visions

**_In light of recent events going on in my life, I have decided to stretch my update times. Don't fret however, because I am not going to stop writing Numb, I'm just trying to make it easier on myself so I can write better chapters and, in the end, make my readers (like you) not feel cheated just because I set an almost impossible to keep deadline when I began. (Also, I'm in the process of moving, so that's messing up my writing time too.) I ask you all to bear with me and please stay tuned!_**

**_Thanks for all your support!_**

**_~Hope-Like-Fyre_**

**By the way, there is a bit of fluff in this chapter (Nothing too serious...yet) only because this was supposed to come out the day after Valentine's Day, but obviously didn't. **

**I do not own Kingdom Hearts.**

**Happy reading!**

* * *

Xion and I sat on a bench overlooking the beach in Twilight Town. Axel was out on a mission, so we were able to get some time to ourselves. I always enjoyed the times that I got to hang out with Xion one-on-one. It was so much easier to talk to someone who understands your frustrations than someone who's been in the Organization a while, like Axel. We talked about everything that had happened since we last saw each other. We laughed and ate ice cream. All in all, it had been a pretty normal day.

"Wow," Xion looked up at the sunset. "It's beautiful."

"Sunsets usually are." I commented.

Xion sighed contentedly. "Don't you wish we could stay in Twilight Town forever, with nothing to do?"

"You mean just living out our days at a slow pace? Yeah, I'd like that." I laid back.

"You know, someday I'm going to leave Organization XIII," Xion said. "And live somewhere else."

"All alone? By yourself?" I asked.

"Well, you could come with me." Xion blushed.

"I will follow you wherever you decide to go." I smiled.

I woke up and groaned. My dreams lately always involved Xion and I and where we would go and live away from the Organization and all the fighting. I hadn't told anyone about my dreams. I was afraid that they'd terminate Xion and me if they suspected anything. I didn't even know if Xion even liked me in the way I liked her. Based on my past experiences, I had decided that Nobodies _could_ feel emotions. I looked over at my door and got dressed. I had to meet with the gang today.

**TWILIGHT TOWN**

The four of us sat on the Station Tower eating ice cream. Ever since Demyx found out about Xion's powers he'd been part of our group. Demyx turned out to be the laid-back type, practicing his sitar more than going on missions. He was the opposite of Axel and, even though the two would argue regularly, they seemed to deeply care for each other's company.

Axel was the first to speak up. "So what do you guys have to do today?"

"I have to go do some recon with Xion in Olympus." I replied.

Axel turned to Demyx. "What about you?"

Demyx grinned. "I got nothing planned. Did you want to do something?"

"What?!" Axel asked in disbelief. "Nothing to do? I thought your day off was yesterday!"

Demyx shrugged. "Well it was and Xemnas told me to take today off too. There isn't much to be done I guess."

I shook my head and looked over Twilight Town. It was always so pretty during the day, but at night was when the _real_ fun began. The neon lights and many dark alleyways made it the perfect place to take your special someone without being caught. There wasn't a police force either, so it made it easier to sneak around. I let my mind drift off to that nightlife, to where I would take Xion through of the dark alleys, run my hand through her jet black hair, look into her ocean blue eyes and then...

_"STOP!" _A voice inside my head cried.

I opened my eyes. I wasn't on the Station Tower anymore. I was on some sort of platform with painted glass under my feet. I recognized the boy in the painting.

_Sora._ It was a painting of Sora. I saw many other people too, including one that looked a lot like Xion. Suddenly, I remembered the names of all the people and subconsciously began naming them.

_That one is Kairi. The silver-haired one is Riku. Those two are Goofy and Donald, my best friends._

Wait, _my_ best friends were Axel and Xion, not Donald and Goofy. I didn't even know how I knew them, I just did. The scream brought me back from my thoughts. I knew that scream, Xion was in trouble!

I ran to the edge of the platform, but there was no other place to be. I looked under me again, trying to stare past the glass and to the other side. I could see Xion pounding on the glass as if she was trapped inside it, but she was on her knees. I didn't understand. I was standing straight up. If she was on her knees that had to mean I was upside down! Not a moment after the thought struck me, I began falling. I tried to think about returning to solid ground, but to no avail, I kept falling into the inky blackness. Xion's scream kept ringing in my ears. I kept trying to call back, but my voice was stuck inside my throat. The next thing I felt was pain and my vision left me in the dark.

**THE NEXT DAY**

_I woke up in the infirmary, the last thing I remembered was eating ice cream before my mission with Xion, but somehow I missed all of yesterday. I was able to find out why, though, I had fallen from the Station Tower. Axel told me that I just stood up and fell, like a lifeless doll. He was able to save me before I hit the ground, but I still am sore from when I landed on him. Xemnas also decided that we couldn't go out and have ice cream on the Station Tower anymore, so I guess I just ruined everything for the four of us._

_XIII out._

It was my shortest and most heartbreaking journal entry yet. I had let down my friends, I knew I did. Xion and Axel had come to see me this morning and regardless of what they said, I could feel their sadness. I haven't told anyone about my vision yet, but I just have to tell Xion. If it turns out that she is the Nobody of who I think she is, she may be having these weird dreams and visions too.

"Roxas? Are you awake?" Xion called in a whisper.

I didn't even hear my door open. Xion was very talented at going unnoticed.

"Yeah, come on in." I whispered back.

Xion tiptoed into my room, shutting the door silently behind her. "I didn't wake you did I?"

"No, I've just been thinking." I saved my journal entry and closed it.

"About what happened yesterday?" Xion asked.

"Yeah, I still don't get why I fell off the tower." I lied. I was still trying to decide if I should ask her about the visions or not.

"Well, as long as you're okay, then I guess I am too." She turned and opened the door, ready to leave.

_It's now or never!_ I told myself.

"Hey Xion, I have a question for you." I piped up.

"I have an answer." Xion said, not turning to look at me.

"Have you been having any strange visions of someone else's memories? Ones you don't remember?" I asked.

The room became silent. The rustle of leaves underneath my window could be heard. I grimaced; this was exactly what I was afraid of. How was Xion going to respond?

"Nope, I don't know what you're talking about." Xion shut the door behind her.

Xion left me alone in my dark room, her words still clinging to the edges of my mind. That short, simple word had just awakened all of my fears and nightmares. _No. _I thought._ I'm not going to lose her. I can't!_ I sat on my bed, unsure of what to tell Axel, Demyx, or Xion. A million thoughts ran through my head. My train of thought wrecked itself on all the what-ifs that clouded the engineer's vision. I didn't know when, but at some time I would have to reveal my visions and dreams. I stared at the potion Vexen gave me. The thick, bright blue liquid shone as I held it up and swirled it around. I shrugged, uncorked the potion, and drank. It left an odd tingle on my lips, but had no actual taste. In an instant, I felt myself become very tired and I lied down, hoping for a break from my dreams.

I woke up to the dim light of the morning shining in my room. I got dressed and ran to Axel's room. I left a note on his door and ran to Demyx's and Xion's rooms and left them notes too. I had to meet everyone today and explain something. The terrible something that I never ever wanted to bring to light. The potion last night helped resolve that today I had to reveal the biggest secrets I had been keeping since the day I joined Organization XIII.

The visions of dark odysseys and the dreams that were Sora's memories.

**TWILIGHT TOWN**

Demyx, Xion, and I all sat at a bench in Twilight Town, scanning for a certain redhead to join us.

"He's late again." I said.

"Axel's your best friend isn't he? You know how bad he is with being prompt." Demyx replied from the other side of the bench.

Xion giggled. "Axel's always been that way, even _I _can see it!"

Demyx and Xion laughed. As badly as I wanted to laugh with them, I couldn't. I was more focused on the task at hand, how I was going to explain everything.

"Hey, sorry I'm late." Axel sat down next to me, swiping the extra ice-cream I had for him.

"You're _always_ late." Demyx pointed out.

Axel shrugged. "So why did you want to talk to us Roxas?"

"Well," I began. "I guess I should just say it."

I took a deep breath. Was I really going to tell them? I had decided to, but something stopped me. My friends, once living, were now frozen, like a photograph. I gasped at the fact and tried to talk, to scream. Words, yet again, failed me. My senses heightened, I looked around for some kind of reason as to why my friends were like statues. There was a sudden dark presence in the air. It loomed and swirled about, turning all it touched to darkness. It touched the image I gazed at and my friends and Twilight Town disappeared. I tried to keep myself from breathing in the darkness. I fell to my knees, feeling the dark tentacles wrap around me, choking me and sealing my final fate; Death.

I felt the ocean breeze on my face and opened my eyes into blinding sunlight. I shook my head.

"Where am I?" I looked around.

I gasped. My voice had returned!

A blonde girl came running up to me.

"Roxas! Are you okay?" She asked.

"Yeah I am." I smiled proudly. "Wait, who are you?"

"My name is Naminé." Naminé said.

I studied her face. I was sure I had never met her. "How do you know who I am? I've never met you."

"We did once, in a dream that took place on this very beach." Naminé giggled. "Don't you remember?"

I shook my head sadly, emitting a sigh from Naminé.

"Oh well!" Naminé returned to her cheery composition. "Maybe this will help you."

Naminé snapped her fingers and she dissipated out of sight. I felt sick as I watched the world spin under me. A new world came into view as I spun. It was Twilight Town!

I woke up on the Station Tower, between Axel and Xion. He looked over at me and Xion.

"So, what do you guys have to do today?"


	7. Captured!

**Big shout out to my friend, AngelamongtheStars, for the amazing reviews and her total coolocity! **

**Also, I have gotten a few messages with some questions about me and I thought I'd open it up to everybody who wants to know. Just ask away and I will answer, but please refer to my profile BEFORE you do so. You will find all previously asked questions and answers to them. I WILL NOT answer the same question twice!**

**Thanks, and as always, I do not own Kingdom Hearts. Sad face.**

**Much awesome sauceness to your reading!**

* * *

"So, what do you guys have to do today?" Axel asked.

"Well, Roxas and I have to do some recon in Olympus." Xion answered.

I stared at Xion and Axel in disbelief. Time had somehow gone backwards, to when I fell off the Station Tower. The conversation continued as it had two days ago. I tried hard to concentrate on the scene in front of me. I didn't want to ruin our ice cream trips again.

"Hey what's over there?" Demyx asked.

He pointed to a billboard in Tram Common; "Coming Soon" was splashed across it in red paint.

"Let's go check it out!" Axel smiled.

Xion and I nodded in agreement.

We teleported down in front of the tower and ran towards Tram Common. Once there, we saw the billboard which had caught our eyes.

"Coming soon," Axel read aloud. "The Anchor Grill."

"The Anchor Grill? What kind of restaurant is that?" Demyx asked.

"Dunno, says it's opening up by the train stop at the beach." Axel read the rest of the billboard.

"Awesome! We _have_ to try this place! Let's go, now!" Demyx cried, pumping his fist into the air.

"Hold up Demyx, it isn't open yet!" Xion said, pointed up to the second line. "Its grand opening is in two days!"

"Are you serious? What a rip-off!" Demyx complained.

"Come on Dem. It won't be _that_ long. We'll even ask Xemnas for a day off, well, except for you." I laughed.

Demyx sighed. "Yeah I have to work both tomorrow and the day after."

I stuck out my tongue. "It's about time! You always get so many days off."

Demyx rubbed his neck. "Yeah well, I set expectations really low, so I can get by without doing anything."

"What a great plan!" I teased.

"Yeah I know!" Demyx grinned back at me.

"_I_ don't think you should get so many days off." Axel crossed his arms.

"What do you mean?" Xion asked.

Axel shook his head. "We're all part of the Organization, right? We should share the load of missions."

"I don't understand the problem. So I get a few more days off than you do, so what?" Demyx shrugged.

"Come on Demyx, you could at least _try_ and pull some of your own dead weight." Axel grunted.

"What was that?" Demyx glared at Axel.

"I said pull your own damn weight, you worthless shit!" Axel roared.

I gasped. That was the first time I had ever heard Axel curse, much less to a friend of his. I looked over at Xion. Her hand was covering her mouth in shock. I wanted to comfort her, but all I was able to do was turn back to Demyx. His face was red and his fists were clenched. There was going to be a fight!

"I'll show you worthless!" Demyx bellowed. He ran towards Axel and, with a speed and strength I had never believed Demyx to possess, punched him straight in the gut.

Axel's body bounced when he hit the ground. He groaned as he got up, rubbing his stomach.

"You just crossed the line."

With a terrible yell, they charged at each other, each landing more and more blows to the other. Blood stained the brick walkway under us and the grunts and groans from both of them filled our ears.

Finally, Axel caught Demyx off balance and threw him into a wall.

"Had enough yet?" Axel called.

Demyx pushed himself up from the ground, gasping for air. He wiped some blood from his now swollen lip.

"Not a chance." Demyx flashed an evil grin and summoned his sitar.

Axel returned his grin and summoned his Chakrams. They charged at each other one final time.

Without thinking, I ran in between the two. I could hear the three of them yell my name, I could hear Axel saying he couldn't stop himself, I could hear Demyx screaming at me to get out of the way. I couldn't do that. I had to stop them!

Time slowed down. I could see Axel and Demyx moving towards me at a slow pace. All I wanted was to stop the fighting. I braced for the impact, but felt myself being lifted up, the scene under had stopped and I was being whisked away to the clouds. I saw a familiar brunette standing on the skyscraper.

"Beautiful view you have here, Roxas." The brunette said, smiling at me.

"Sora." I replied.

"I can see what's happening to you. I can feel it in here." He patted where his heart was.

I scoffed. "You're lucky. At least _you_ have a heart. I wasn't supposed to exist."

Sora remained silent.

"Why?" I asked. "Why did you create me? Why did you put me here when I should never have existed?"

Sora's shoulders slumped. "Because, my best friend died and his place in my heart could never be taken away. You were created from my thoughts of Riku when I became a Heartless."

"But you came back. Kairi saved you." I finished.

"Right. We're connected Roxas. We're like the same person, but in different bodies." Sora commented.

"I know, but I wish," I began.

"Wish what? That you never existed? That you would've never met Axel, Xion, and Demyx?" Sora asked.

"No, I just wish I _could_ exist. I wish I wasn't a Nobody." I cried out.

Sora patted my shoulder. "You aren't a nobody. Well you are a Nobody, but you're a Somebody too."

"To who?" I asked.

"Her." Sora pointed at Xion. "You are _her_ Somebody. Now are we going to talk all day or are you going to take this?"

He handed a Keyblade. "You gonna need this to save your friends."

"Sora, thank you." I whispered.

Sora pulled me into a tight hug. "No problem! And don't forget, you always right here." He crossed his heart and disappeared.

I felt myself running again. My eyes adjusted and I was running to stop Demyx and Axel from colliding into each other. I pulled out my Keyblades, which had taken new forms, and blocked both attacks. With a strong push, I sent both of them to the ground.

"Now listen up!" I bellowed. "I will not repeat myself! Either of you fight again, and you won't have to worry about wrongfully existing anymore!"

I gasped for air and looked at my friends. Axel was shaking and Demyx was on the verge of tears. I looked back at Xion, but she was gone!

I gasped. "Has anyone seen Xion?!"

**IN A MYSTERIOUS ROOM**

Xion awoke. "Where am I?"

She looked around the dark room. There were shiny objects on a small table by the bed she was sitting in and a large machine above her. A door opened on her left and a tall hooded figure stepped inside, locking the door behind it.

"Who are you?" Xion asked.

The figure said nothing. Instead, it went over to a cabinet and selected different materia for the job at hand.

"What are you going to do?" Xion cried.

The figure looked over in her direction, raised a finger to its lips, and went back to work.

Xion whimpered. She didn't know how to get out of the belts that restrained her. She tried reaching out to Roxas in her mind as she had done once before, but to no avail. She panted slightly, and could feel her body succumbing to the overwhelming need to sleep. The figure stepped over to her and wrote something down on a small notepad.

Before Xion closed her eyes, she could make out one sentence her abductor said under their breath.

"I've been waiting a long time for this."

* * *

**Well I need to explain some things.**

**First off, yes, I realize this chapter is short. Sorry about that.**

**Second, yes, I am almost done moving, which means more writing time!**

**Thirdly, did Roxas really meet Sora? You'll find out soon enough... **

**Fourthly, I'm going to be putting some Easter eggs in my stories to prep for Peter Cottontail. Now, did anyone find the hidden Easter eggs in this story? There are three of them. (One is a similar scenario from a show, one is a song, and one is from a game.) Good luck!**


	8. Tribulations

**So yes, here we are with another chapter. This one took forever considering I got sick. Not to worry, I am better now!**

**By the way, I may start using "Rox" a bit more when Roxas is with Axel/Demyx/Xion. Just a heads up.**

**I do not own Kingdom Hearts. I know, what a shock.**

* * *

I gasped. "Has anyone seen Xion?!"

"No! We were too busy getting thrown on our asses thanks to you." Axel muttered.

"I didn't see her either." Demyx looked around.

"She's disappeared! Come on, we have to tell Xemnas!" I began running, but Axel grabbed my hood.

"Rox, listen. You have to think this over. I mean, going to _Xemnas_? He doesn't even believe Xion exists!" Axel said.

"Well, technically, none of us..." Demyx began.

"Shaddup Demyx. The point is you can't go to Xemnas. We have to keep this quiet." Axel tapped his temple. "Got it memorized?"

"Yeah, but we have to tell someone! I mean, we can't just leave her alone!" I cried.

"We'll figure it out. But seriously, Rox, not a word to anyone, okay? We've got Xemnas breathing down our necks; we don't need more bad attention." Axel opened a portal. "See ya at home."

"See ya." I turned away.

"Bye." Demyx left me alone in the streets of Twilight Town.

_I wasn't going to give up on Xion so easily._

I placed a finger on my forehead and closed my eyes. "Let's see, she was behind when I ran between Axel and Demyx."

I moved everything in my mind, trying to remember even the most minute detail.

"So she would have been here." I stood in the spot Xion should have been. I opened my eyes and looked towards the ground.

Nothing. Not a single thing to show what happened. I cursed my luck and opened a portal home; I had to act normal for everyone else.

I was able to skip past most of the Organization and, luckily, those who I had said hi to didn't ask me about Xion. Axel gave me an evil eye during dinner and tapped his temple again. I nodded. Axel was right to keep Xion's disappearance a secret; it would make it easier for us to find her. She and I had tomorrow off anyway, so I could use all that time.

I was the last one to leave the table, but before I could reach my room, Axel motioned me over to his room.

He grabbed me by the collar. "We need to talk."

"What wrong, Axel?" I asked as Axel slammed the door behind him.

"You squealed!" Axel cried angrily. "You told Xemnas!"

"No I didn't!" I protested. "If you remember, Xemnas was the first to leave the table!"

That seemed to calm Axel down a bit. "Yeah he was. It doesn't matter though! He knows!"

I gasped. "About Xion's disappearance?"

"Yes!" Axel exclaimed. "He sent Xigbar and Saix to find her!"

"Why would he do that?" I still didn't understand.

"I don't know, but we need to find out!" Axel grasped his doorknob. "Let's go!"

I stopped him. "Wait, what about Demyx?"

Axel shook his head. "He isn't coming with us, I'm sure he'll be fine on his own for a while. Not to mention, we can't risk having three members out past curfew."

I nodded. I hated the idea of leaving Demyx in the dark, but Axel was right. Two's a company and three's a crowd.

We teleported to one of the tunnels, looking out for any traces of Xigbar and Saix, and began our search. We started creeping around the Sandlot and other inconspicuous places. We were about to head back into our "hideout" until we heard a familiar raspy voice.

"Hey, what are you doing?"

We froze instantly. That was Xigbar's voice.

"Nothing. I'm looking for Xion." Saix answered.

Axel and I breathed a sigh of relief and continued on our secret mission. We saw the shimmering moon descend further and further. Time was not on our side. Xigbar and Saix would be able to see better in the day than in the night. There was no way we could look for Xion in broad daylight with those two snooping around!

"Okay, I've got a plan." Axel whispered, not moving his eyes from the two figures a few yards away.

"What is it?" I asked.

Axel looked towards the sky. "We're going to wait until they go back home. Then, we'll split up and find Xion. We can cover more ground that way and we won't have these idiots on patrol."

"What if we get caught?" I wanted to be prepared for anything.

"Say you're looking for me." Axel replied. "Then when we 'find' each other, we'll go for ice cream."

"So what you're saying is to..." I began.

Axel smiled. "Yep. Play dumb."

We waited in that dank tunnel for a long while. Finally, at the stroke of eight Xigbar shouted to Saix.

"We need to get back home!"

"Finally." Saix muttered.

I gasped. I didn't realize how close he was to us. To our horror, Saix turned around and stared at the tunnel Axel and I were hiding in. Did he hear my gasp? Did he know we were there? No, he couldn't know. He squinted, as if he could see Axel and I hiding. Xigbar called again and he simply shrugged and walked on.

I let out a long breath. "That was close."

Axel shook himself out of his daze. "Yeah, _too_ close."

We peeked out of the tunnel. "Ready, Rox?"

I nodded. "Let's go find Xion."

**IN A MYSTERIOUS ROOM**

Xion sat up as far as she could on the surgical gurney. To ensure she stay in place, there were leather straps binding her ankles, wrists, and abdomen. She tried to pull off the straps, but they were held by large, angled rods. Xion sighed and threw her head back on the sweaty pillow. She stared up at the odd machine on the ceiling. _I don't want to find out what that thing does._ She thought. She squirmed again, trying to loosen the straps. A door opened, letting in the blinding sunlight and the silhouette from before.

"Should we extract now? The silhouette asked.

Xion tried to speak, but found her voice unreachable.

"No!" Another voice hissed. "You know what would happen if we did that! She is not yet strong enough."

"Not to worry, there still is time." The silhouette said. "No one knows of this place."

"It doesn't matter!" The hissing voice returned. "Keeping the whereabouts a secret is all that matters. Lest someone come and find us."

The silhouette chuckled. "We can't have that, can we?"

The silhouette walked over and leaned over the gurney Xion was on.

"Comfortable?" The figure asked.

Xion shook her head vehemently.

"Don't fret, dear girl. We will be done with you soon enough." The figure made its way to a computer on the opposite side of the room.

"Now, it begins." The figure cackled as it flipped a nearby switch.

Immediately, Xion felt the surge of electricity as it pulsed through her body. Her hands shook and her knees buckled. Her eyes rolled up into her head. Before she lost all consciousness, one thought went through her mind.

_Roxas help me!_

I screamed and fell to the ground.

"Rox! What's wrong?" Axel dropped down beside me.

I kept screaming. It was like someone was driving a large nail into my head repeatedly. The pain moved into other parts of my body, like it was being carried in my bloodstream. I barely opened my eyes, before another wave of pain hit me.

I could faintly hear Axel crying.

"Get up! Roxas get up!"

I tried to answer, but I suddenly felt very cold. The pain had subsided, but I couldn't move. My eyes were shut tight and I could barely breathe. I heard someone else's voice from far away. Something told me that there was not too much time left.

"What did you do, Axel?" Demyx asked, his arms crossed over his chest.

"Nothing! Roxas screamed and then fell on the ground." Axel said.

"Was that before or after you hit him?" Saix came up behind the two.

"I didn't hit him!" Axel protested.

"I saw you. One punch was all it took." Saix said coolly.

Axel lunged at Saix. "Liar!"

His fist connected with Saix's jaw.

Saix smiled. "As I said before, one punch was all it took."

He disappeared.

"Axel, how could you do this?!" Demyx cried out, anger burned in his eyes.

"Dem. I didn't, I would never." Axel began.

"Shut up." Demyx whispered.

"Dem, you have to hear me out. I couldn't ever hurt Roxas, he's my best friend, I-"

"Shut up!" Demyx whirled around and hit Axel. All his anger burned behind the punch that collided with Axel's face.

Axel's stared in amazement. There was now an odd taste in his mouth. He spit red onto the ground. Blood.

"Dem." He said softly.

Demyx turned away from him. "Save it. I have to help Roxas."

Demyx hoisted Roxas onto his shoulders and disappeared.

Axel looked up at the sky. Rain fell upon him and he fell to his knees and cried.

I opened my eyes a bit.

"Hey there." Demyx smiled.

What happened? Why was I in the infirmary?

"Demyx, what happened? Where's Axel?" I asked.

"I don't know. I just brought you here." Demyx looked away.

"Demyx, you have to answer me! Where's Axel?" I was growing anxious.

Demyx laughed maliciously. "It's funny that you care so much about him."

I was taken aback. "What do you mean?"

"Heh. It's funny, that's all. To think, that bastard is the reason you're in here." Demyx stared out the window.

"Demyx, I-" I began.

"Don't." Demyx left the room and slammed the door behind him.

I was alone in the infirmary. Alone and full of questions.

What had happened? Why was I here? Why was Demyx so angry? Where was Axel? And where was Xion?

I got out of bed. The only way to find out what happened was to find Axel and ask him myself.

On my way out, I bumped into Xigbar.

"Oh hey there small fry! You feeling any better?" Xigbar greeted me.

"Yeah, I guess, thanks. Anyway, have you seen Axel?" I asked.

Xigbar nodded. "Yeah, he went for a walk."

I gulped. "Which kind of walk?"

Xigbar winked at me. "The first one."

No sooner than those words left Xigbar's lips, I pushed past him and teleported to the Skyscraper. Hopefully, this wouldn't end up like the last time Axel went for a "walk."

"Ah, the view is so nice from up here. It's so serene and beautiful, like trees in the wind." Axel sighed, pulling a cigarette from his mouth.

"I thought Xemnas told you not to smoke anymore." I said.

Axel scoffed. "What are _you_ doing here?"

"Looking for you." I sat beside him.

"I guess you succeeded." Axel put the cigarette to his lips.

I nodded. "Yeah, you're it."

"So, why'd you wanna find me?" Axel asked.

"Because Xigbar said you went for a 'walk' and I needed to make sure you were okay." I kicked my feet.

"Damn that Xigbar. I told him not to say anything to you." Axel took another drag off of his cigarette.

"Could you stop that?" I asked.

Axel blew the smoke into my face. "Stop what?"

I coughed. "That. Stop smoking."

Axel laughed. "Quit being such a little pain. If you don't like it, go away."

"Axel, honestly. Why are you out here?" I looked over at him.

"I'm here because I need to be." Axel replied.

"Why's that?" I pried.

"I don't want to hurt anyone." Axel

"Particularly..." I edged him on.

"You." Axel answered. "Drop it."

I sighed. I didn't want to fight Axel with him being in such a vulnerable state. I decided to risk saying one more thing. I had to find out what happened, and he would only tell me if he was angry.

"You're in one of those moods again." I said quietly.

"No I'm not." Axel gazed at the lights below us.

"Yes you are." I said again.

Axel shook his head. "I told you to drop it. I'm fine, everything's fine."

"Demyx isn't fine." I pointed out.

"When is he?" Axel asked.

I decided to just straight out ask him. "What happened today, before I woke up in the infirmary?"

Axel said nothing. He looked over at me with solemn eyes and chuckled.

"You never make this easy on me."

"I want to know." I said.

"Do you?" Axel looked at me with those solemn eyes again.

I paused. Did I want to know? I had come this far, it was too late to back out now!

I nodded. "Yeah, I do."

Axel got up, put out his cigarette, and walked away.

I grabbed his sleeve.

"Don't walk away from me."

Axel grinned. "What are you, my mom?"

His grin and the tone in his voice were both very dangerous signs. I knew I shouldn't keep prying, but I had to. No one else would be honest with me.

"No, I'm your best friend! You're supposed to come to me when things are bad, I shouldn't have to come to you!" I raised my voice.

"Oh yeah? Well, maybe I don't come to you because I don't want you around!" Axel shot back.

I pounded my fist on the ground. "Look at yourself. You think you have it so damn hard! You hate being alone, right? Let me in."

Axel scoffed. "I don't want you in. I want you out. Out here, nothing can hurt you. You get on the inside and it'll kill you."

I punched him, really punched him. His fell onto his knees, grasping his stomach. His breathing became very faint.

"Bastard." He whispered.

I stood above him. "I want the truth. What happened in Twilight Town?"

"What does it matter? The past is the past, you can't change it." He said. His breathing was returning to normal.

"It matters because you're my best friend. It matters because the day I woke up here you promised to look out for me and I promised to look out for you." I held out my hand to help him up.

"All I do is hurt people." Axel looked up at me. "Why is that?"

"What do you mean?" I asked, my hand still waiting for his.

"I hurt you. I hurt Saix. I hurt Demyx. I hurt everyone, okay?" Axel slumped over. "I broke my promise."

"You didn't break your promise. Come on, we have to find Xion." I said.

Axel grabbed my hand. "Okay, let's go find her."

* * *

**Well how was that for a comeback?! Anyways, I'd like to disclaim something. Axel is not an addict. He smokes to ease his mind. (and the cigarettes he using is just plain tobacco, rolled into paper, and smoked. Simple and non-cancerous.) Xemnas believes it will turn into a habit, which is why Axel went for a "walk" (Walk 1: Smoke and Walk 2: Actual walk.) I'd also like to address the use of profanity. This story takes place in 358/2 Days timeline, but is purely my ideas and I feel profanity gets the point across. I'm sorry if you don't like the profanity. Just pretend they aren't there, okay? I'm also sorry if this doesn't flow correctly. I have a tendency to not read the previous chapter before writing the next one.**


	9. The Hunt Begins

**I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry! Oh my Flying Spaghetti Monster, I'm sorry! I thought I had uploaded this BEFORE I went on vacation! Gomenasi x 5,000,000,000!**

**Anyways, this is where our story, as well as the hunt, truly begins.**

**I do not own Kingdom Hearts.**

* * *

**IN A MYSTERIOUS ROOM**

Smoke rose from the machine that Xion was plugged into. The silhouette standing above her glanced at the monitor and cursed.

"Why isn't this machine retrieving..._it_?" A voice hissed.

"Master, it will be here soon. I promise." The silhouette spoke in a soft whisper.

"You better be right about that. I grow tired of these games. Give me what I need." The voice commanded.

The silhouette leaned down close to Xion.

"Give up already. Give it up or I will break you."

Xion squinted at the figure above her and smirked.

"Not a chance. Do what you want, but this is mine and I have every intention on keeping it."

The silhouette chuckled. "I have put you through many tests, yet you still have your spirit. I shall remedy that immediately."

It pushed a small red button on the machine.

"How long will it take, I wonder?" The silhouette asked. "How long will it take to break you?"

Xion smiled again. _I won't break because I still have something to live for._

_Roxas, don't give up, okay? I'll be back soon._

**IN THE CASTLE**

I went up to Demyx's door and knocked.

"Demyx, are you awake?"

"Yeah, come on in Roxas." Demyx said.

I entered Demyx's room. He was over on his computer, writing out one of his journal entries.

I took a seat on the edge of his bed. "Demyx, I need your help."

"With what?" Demyx asked, not looking up from his computer.

"With Axel. I need you and him to make up, so we can go look for Xion."

Demyx stopped typing and turned around. "Give me one good reason."

"Look, I'm going to be straight up here. Axel can be a pain at times and, yes, he's pretty messed up, but you're his friend too. I mean, you've been friends longer than he and I have. Why don't you care about him?" I stared at Demyx.

Demyx sighed. "I _do_ care about Axel. The problem is that he won't own up to anything he does. He says he needs this and needs that, but never gives a good reason for it. Like his cigarettes, for instance, he just smokes when he's pissed so he can unwind. I know that and you know that. His reasoning, however, is because he needs to."

Demyx returned to his journal.

"But Demyx, Axel needs you, now more than ever. Why won't you go see him?" I tapped his shoulder.

Demyx lowered his head. "Because he hurt you."'

"Why does everyone think that?! He didn't do anything to me!" I protested.

"Rox, I get it. You want to protect him, but you can't. Not this time. Not over something like this. He _hurt_ you. I know he did, because Saix was there and saw everything." Demyx explained.

"Axel didn't hit me." I whispered.

"Roxas please don't do this to yourself. If Axel hit you, he hit you. It's in the past, but it's going to be awhile before I forgive him. But I will forgive him, I promise." Demyx held out his pinky.

I took his pinky in mine. "I'll hold you to that. But something else happened to me and I doubt it was Axel."

"What happened?" Demyx gave me a confused look.

"There was this scream and this pain in my head. I fell and then blacked out." I said.

Demyx mouth fell open.

"Y-You're sure about that?" Demyx stuttered, his eyes were wide.

I nodded.

"Oh no. No, no, no." Demyx jumped up and threw open his door.

"Axel!" He ran towards Axel's room.

I heard him pounding furiously on Axel's door, frantically screaming Axel's name. There was no reply from inside the room. Without warning, Demyx busted open Axel's door and was met with an empty room. A slight breeze from the open window filled the room.

Demyx sunk to the floor. "Where? Where could you've gone Axel?"

I smirked. "I wonder where he could be."

"This is no time for riddles, Roxas! We've got to find where Axel is!" Demyx began climbing out the window.

"Demyx, really. Think about it. Where could Axel be?" I asked sarcastically.

Demyx looked over at me and caught my smirk. He smiled.

"I better be off then, right?."

I nodded. "Yeah, you should be."

**THE SKYSCRAPER**

"Oh man what a day, right?" Axel asked the crisp night air. "Yeah, I was just thinking that myself."

"Axel." Demyx whispered.

Axel got up and turned around. "So you've found me."

Demyx frowned. "You weren't in your room."

Axel chuckled a bit. "Man, between you and Rox, I feel like I have _two_ moms."

"It's because we care about you." Demyx said, looking down.

"I know," Axel hugged him. "Sorry I worried you."

Demyx smiled and returned his hug. "Don't disappear again."

"Don't worry." Axel laughed, pulling out a cigarette carton. "I'm empty."

"Why don't you two kiss and get it over with already?" Xigbar called.

"Hey, leave the lovebirds alone Xigbar!" Vexen grinned.

"No surprise, I always knew you two would end up together." Larxene stuck her tongue out.

Axel turned and rolled his eyes. "Look, just because _I_ can find love on the battlefield..."

The four of them began to laugh while I watched quietly from the sidelines. Watching those two was like magic. Inside though, I began to feel a little jealous. I knew Axel was my best friend, but he seemed so much more comfortable around Demyx than around me. Maybe this was something that would pass once we found Xion, but I began to wonder if this is how Axel felt when I would spend time with her. I would need to ask him at some point.

**THE NEXT DAY**

We piled into the Gummi ship. Xemnas had told us if we wanted to find Xion we should check the worlds in the outer rim first and slowly work our way back towards the castle and that's exactly what we planned to do. I still hated that ship and, from what I had learned, Demyx did too. Axel sat down in the driver's seat. Grasping the controls in his hands, he started the ship and looked at me.

"Hang on." Axel said. "I haven't driven one of these in a while."

And with that sentence, we were off to find Xion!

**A FEW HOURS LATER**

"Axel, I think we should call it a day." Demyx panted.

"No way!" Axel replied. "We've still got two worlds to look in!"

"I think Demyx is right, Axel. Let's just go home." I said.

"Man, what kind of seekers are you two? You're giving up?" Axel asked.

"I'm not giving up!" I cried out angrily. "Demyx and I are tired and what if we miss something important because we're tired? What if we never find Xion, because we were too tired to see and think clearly? What then, Axel?"

Axel sighed. "Okay, okay. You do have a point, Rox. I just don't want to give up on Xion so easily."

I glared at him. "I'm not giving up on Xion!"

"Guys, stop fighting. I already have a migraine and you two are making it worse." Demyx said painfully.

"Fine, I'm going home!" Axel set a course for home. I couldn't wait to jump into my nice warm bed. I just wanted to rest. When we woke up tomorrow, we could go out and search again, but for now, sleeping was the best thing I could do, for Xion's sake.

The ride home seemed like forever. As soon as we touched down, I literally jumped out of the shuttle. I could care less about hurting myself, because Vexen makes excellent elixirs and painkillers, but I couldn't take another minute of being crammed into the metal death trap that was the Gummi Ship. Axel laughed at me when he came out of the ship.

"Anything to get some sleep, eh Roxas?"

"Shut up Axel. I'm claustrophobic!" I defended.

"Yeah, I know Rox. _Everyone_ knows." Axel tittered.

I could've killed Axel right where he stood, but I decided against it. Demyx wasn't a very safe Gummi Ship pilot.

But I knew one thing. Wherever Xion was, it was going to take a miracle to save her, and I could only hope that she was okay and would still be alive if we found her.

No, not if we find her, _when_ we find her, because we will. I promised her that much and I never have broken any promises I've made.

And I don't intend to start now.


	10. Things Get Interesting Part One

**Part One?! Whatever could that mean? I propose you read on and find out! Anyway, I'm sorry this chapter is shorter. I wanted to sort of bridge the gap from what has happened to what I want to happen and writing a regular length chapter would ruin the focus of this one, so it's in two parts. Have a good read!**

**I do not own Kingdom Hearts.**

* * *

_It's been about a week since we began our mission to look for Xion. So far, we've found nothing. No traces of her being kidnapped, leaving, or otherwise. She's just gone, but we can't give up. We won't. There's nothing that can stop us from completing our mission._

I shook my head and deleted my journal entry. I didn't need Xemnas knowing we had no luck finding Xion. After all, he had become a lead suspect in Xion's disappearance. When Xion came to be, everyone instantly bonded with her, except Xemnas. At first, I thought he'd at least get to know a little of her, but he showed no interest in her until she was able to wield the Keyblade. This only further proved Axel's theory that Xemnas had kidnapped Xion, but we needed hard evidence, otherwise Xemnas might dispose of all of us.

Axel didn't like it, but he understood. Getting the evidence would prove to be worth our while in the end, when we found Xion.

Axel knocked at my door. "You still up, Rox?"

"Yeah, come on in." I replied.

Axel sat on the bed. "So, I've figured it out."

"Figured what out?" I asked.

Axel squinted at me. "You know, whose been going through my stuff."

I caught on. "Oh really? Who is it?"

"It's Demyx," Axel said. "That little weasel."

"Trying to get back at you for your last prank, huh?" I asked casually.

At this point Axel and I were only making conversations Xemnas couldn't care less about. A few weeks ago, Axel and I had found out that Xemnas hid cameras in everyone's rooms. This seemed strange to me, but I decided to go along with it. What could I do anyway? We had a plan though. One of us was going to get caught. One of us would break the rules and see for ourselves if Xemnas was hiding something. Now, our only obstacle was the chance that Xemnas would destroy the one who gets caught. Tonight, the plan was being put into action and Demyx had volunteered himself as the bait. Tonight, we could expose Xemnas.

Tonight, things would get interesting.

"So yeah, it was Demyx the whole time. I can't believe him." Axel laughed.

"Well, keep a closer eye on him. He might be breaking some of Xemnas's rules too." I said.

"I wouldn't put it past him. I wonder what he's up to now." Axel looked towards the door.

I took the hint. "Let's find out."

**IN A MYSTERIOUS ROOM**

A silhouette gazed at a small computer monitor.

"Strange," It said. "You should already be dead, dear."

Xion smiled. "Yeah right. You can't break me."

"Let's test that, shall we?" The silhouette grasped a small lever.

**IN THE CASTLE**

We headed to Demyx's room. Sure enough, he was in there just reading one of the manga he bought in Twilight Town. He gave us a little wave.

"What's up, guys?" He asked not looking up from the manga in his hands.

"Well, I want to know why you've been going through my stuff!" Axel said.

"I'm making sure you quit smoking. For good." Demyx said casually.

"So, my word isn't good enough?" Axel asked.

Demyx put his hands up. "Don't get the wrong idea, Axel. Your word is fine. I'm just making one hundred percent sure."

"You don't trust me." Axel stated.

"I do trust you. Why do you think I'm doing this? It's 'cause I care." Demyx returned to his manga.

"Give me that!" Axel snatched the manga from Demyx. "What the hell is 'Strawberry Panic'?"

"It's a manga I'm reading right now, and if you would be so kind as to give it back," Demyx said, taking the manga back and placing it on his shelf. "I'd be ever so grateful."

Axel turned his back. "Let's get back on the subject. Why are you going through my stuff?"

"It's for your sake." Demyx replied.

"You think so, hotshot? Give me one good reason why I should believe that." Axel crossed his arms.

"Is it wrong for a guy to want to know his buddy is safe?" Demyx asked.

"Maybe. I haven't decided yet." Axel said bitterly.

I shook my head once. It was time; Lights, Camera, Action.

"Well sorry for trying to be a good friend!" Demyx tackled Axel and really began giving Axel a beating.

**IN A MYSTERIOUS ROOM**

A red light began flashing and a siren went off.

The computer monitor showed a grainy image of what seemed to be a face.

"Sir, we have a problem!" The person spoke.

"What it is, can't you see I'm busy?!" The silhouette asked, annoyed.

"It's something. You need to come here right away." The computer went blank.

The silhouette sighed. "Oh well. Next time, you won't be so lucky my dear."

The silhouette left the room and Xion breathed a sigh of relief. It was true, she _was_ breaking. Bit by bit, that hooded coward was cracking at her sanity. Xion knew that she could only take so much more of this torment, before she broke and gave the silhouette exactly what he wanted.

**IN THE CASTLE**

Axel played his part well. The fake teeth he was spitting out every so often as well as the black and blue ink packs erupting inside the mask he was wearing gave the look that he was really being bruised, bloodied, and beaten. I had to stand back a moment, reveling in our pure genius. After a few punches I let my "shock" wear off, and I started trying to pull Demyx off Axel while yelling for Xemnas. A few minutes later, Xemnas was in the room and pulled apart Axel and Demyx. Xemnas grabbed Demyx by his collar a drug him down the hall. Demyx winked at us as he was taken away. It was all up to him now.

**IN A MYSTERIOUS ROOM**

The door in front of her opened and a body was tossed aside.

"I will deal with you later." The silhouette shut the door.

Xion ripped the large white sensors off her skin and limped toward the body. Its breathing was short and spontaneous, like it had just endured something terrible. Xion placed a hand on its back.

"Are you alright?" She asked hoarsely.

"Yeah, I'm fine thanks." The body turned out to be a boy.

"What happened? Why are you here?" Xion helped him up.

"I don't know," The boy replied. "I'm just here."

"What's your name?" Xion asked.

"I can't tell you that." The boy smirked.

"You sound familiar. Look at me." Xion moved in front of the boy.

Those eyes, that dirty blonde hair combed upwards.

Xion began to cry. "It's you. It's really you."


End file.
